Failed
by Sara Nero
Summary: When he stumbled across the Blood Spiral on a solo mission, he barely makes it out alive. He didnt fail the mission but instead, failed his team and himself. One-Shot Zhante


**A/N:** My laptop broke so that I cant update House of Cards. I had this in my draft so I posted it from my phone a lot of effort. I hope you like it nonetheless. I apologise for any mistakes and if this is not so well written. I was in a rush. Please review if you liked it!

-X-

His heart was beating faster than it ever did before, the adrenaline that was rushing through his veins lending him the needed strength in order for him to round the corner.

His bright amber eyes were piercing through the darkness of the night and as soon as he realized that it was a dead end, his chest tightened at a painful rate.

A cough passed his lips and with every time his chest jerked, a sharp jolt of hot pain rushed through his body.

The bittersweet taste of blood filled his mouth as he leaned against the brick wall of the alley and forced himself to take some more steps forward, his shoulder sliding across the wall.

His breathing was uneven and it felt as if his lungs were on fire, his entire surroundings daring to blur out of dizziness.

Every inch of his body, every limb, muscle and cell was aching and after two steps, his legs gave in under his weight.

He grunted as he fell onto his knees and held his abdomen tightly, still leaning against the wall with his side.

Dante shut his eyes tightly as he forced his body to turn so that he was leaning against the cold wall with his back, his posture slumped.

A wince escaped his lips as he felt the bleeding and still fresh wound that was located at his abdomen stretch with every movement of his.

The blood wouldn't stop pouring out and even though he kept on pushing against it in order to stop the bleeding, it was in vain.

He was too weak to use his powers and even if he could-it would be of no use.

The sword that the not so gently rammed into his abdomen was poisoned and if he wasn't mistaken, he would only have a couple of minutes left before it would start to enter his system.

Dante clenched his teeth as he sunk lower and rested the back of his head against the wall, the sharp pain reminding him of his failure of the mission.

It was supposed to be an easy one that shouldn't take longer than a day or two and yet, what no one reckoned with was that the left over spirals would attack him out of nowhere. At first Dante thought that they were no actual threat and even though he managed to defeat them in the end, he noticed that the Spirals have somehow become stronger, stronger than before.

He should have noticed sooner and maybe, just maybe he wouldn't be in this kind of situation now.

Dante was in a small town in Greek and the next Foundation HQ was around half an hour away by foot.

He wouldn't make it in time.

Images flashed his mind, memories and pictures of his past, good and bad ones.

He remembered the day he had officially formed a team with Lok and Sophie and the way their eyes lightened up when he accepted their offer was something that he would never forget.

They were still too innocent and young-they shouldn't be forced to suffer as much as they already did.

He had failed them once before already back then when they fought against the professor and now, he would fail them again.

He would have to leave his team.

Sophie, Den, Lok, Metz- he would have to leave them all. They would be devastated if they would get the news and all of sudden, Dante felt a rush of hot fury overcome him.

Why couldn't he have been stronger? If he would, then he would be able to spare them from the pain that laid in the future.

Another picture entered his mind and as soon as it did, he felt his heart clench even tighter in his chest.

It was the picture of Zhalia standing in front of his grave, softly weeping and hugging his yellow coat tightly.

Every breath he inhaled was worsening the burning of his lungs as he opened his vibrant yellow eyes.

The sight of the beautiful dark night sky that was graced by the moon and the tiny little stars that illuminated his surroundings greeted his blurry and lightly hazy vision and that was when he felt the unsettling feeling in his chest.

Would that be the last thing he would see before his death? The last sound being the soft rustling of the wind?

No.

He had one last thing to do before it would be over and since he was no fool, knew exactly what he needed to do.

Shakily lifting his hand, Dante managed to put it into the pocket of his yellow coat.

As soon as he did, he instantly felt the hard surface of the object that he was looking for. Encircling his hand around it, he eventually managed to pull it out with all the strength he had left. His arm somehow brushed against his wound and Dante hissed at the sharp pain, his breath hitching.

Muttering a string of curses under his breath, the seeker didnt even look at the cold object in his hand and merely brushed his thumb across its surface.

As soon as he found the right button, he gently pushed it before he lifted it up to his ear.

Dante once more looked up into the night sky while the soft beeping sound greeted his ears.

He inwardly prayed that the heavens would at least lend him five more minutes in order to fulfill his wish.

It was selfish and would most likely destroy himself as much as it would her, but he needed to do it.

It was now or never.

"Hello?" Came a soft whisper from the other end of the line and Dante felt his heart skip a beat. He inwardly thanked God for granting him that last wish before he smiled softly, eyes fixed on the bright full moon.

"I am sorry, did I wake you?" Dante inquired, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.

She would instantly suspect that something was wrong simply by the way his voice would be shaking or lightly breathy, and that was something he didn't necessarily want.

"It's fine." She curtly replied, her voice softening lightly. "Are you still on your mission?"

Dante's smile widened but the sadness that it held was clearly evident. Her concern was clearly audible and just as always, her voice was enough to calm him down, even now.

"I just finished it." Dante returned, his voice lowering lightly as he felt his vision blur more than it did before.

"When will you be back?" Came her inquiry that was followed by a soft rustling sound. He guessed that she turned to lay on her back, as she always did when she was phoning someone.

His heart broke as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

He wouldn't see her again.

"I don't know." He returned in a breathy whisper, exhaustion slowly starting to take over.

There was silence.

"Dante, what happened?"

His smile turned into a smirk as a dry chuckle passed his lips, what unfortunately turned into a coughing fit.

His entire stomach began to hurt and His laughing soon turned into a cough, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.

His body was shaking and as soon as the coughing died Down, he tried to calm his breathing again.

"Zhaal," He whispered her name like a prayer, so soft and filled with a mixture of emotions. Regret, pain, fear and most of all, love. "Remember the time when you told Sophie that I meant more to you than anything else on the world?"

What greeted him was silence, just like he had expected. His smile faded and his eyes were still fixed on the bright moon, his expression serious.

"Dante, what the hell happened?" Zhalia's tone carried concern and even though it hurt him, he couldn't stop now. He needed her to know at last, she deserved it.

"I was a moron for not telling you earlier Zhaal. I just never found the right time but right now, I wish that I could have told you that you are the most important person to me earlier. You deserve to know and hear that you are loved Zhaal, and I am sorry for taking so long and choosing such a bad moment for confessing this." Dante felt as if a heavy burden was just lifted off of his shoulder and yet, the regret and pain was crushing him from the inside.

He needed her to know just how important she was to the team and most importantly, to him.

"Dante," He heard her soft, almost pleading whisper from the other line and his heart clenched tightly in his chest. "Please tell me where you are."

She figured out that something must have happened and he knew that she knew.

Black was starting to slowly crawl up the edge of his vision and Dante felt the exhaustion take over, his eyes lids growing heavy.

"Zhalia, I need you to know that I regret nothing." Dante started, his words becoming more and more husky. "I don't regret letting you join the team, I don't regret forgiving you and I don't regret trusting you."

It was getting hard to breathe.

"Dante, I am begging you." Zhalia's alarmed plea reached his ears moments before he felt the pain of his injury slowly numbing. "Tell me where you are, now."

It was only a matter of time until he would fall unconscious and he couldn't help but smile bittersweet nonetheless.

Why did their love have to be such a tragedy?

"Remember my words Zhalia, I need you to remember them." He urgently whispered, feeling how his hold on his cell phone slowly slackened. His strength was leaving his body and his eyelids were slowly closing. "Keep an eye on the teens alright?"

He faintly registered the sound of her hurried footsteps on the other side of the line and mildly wondered what she was up to before he found himself at the brink of consciousness.

It was time.

"Thank you, Zhalia, for staying with me and allowing me to be part of your life."

Blackness was now beginning to cover his vision and his headache faded into the background. The last thing he registered was the sound of his cell phone hitting the ground and the calls of the woman he fell for. His last breath left his lungs and for the split of a second, he felt at peace before the tempting darkness lulled him into a dreamless slumber of eternity, the last thing on his mind being a pair of hazel eyes.


End file.
